


Security Detail

by Heiligsan



Category: Captain America (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aftermath, Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Not A Fix-It, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Steve Rogers Sucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-03 03:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8694178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heiligsan/pseuds/Heiligsan
Summary: Almost three years after the events of Civil War, Team Cap is back on US soil. Unfortunately for them, things are not as expected. The captain finds himself unable to talk things out with Tony since his new security detail seems to harbor a strong dislike for him. Fem!HarryxTony.





	1. Blueprint 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have found myself quite obsessed with civil war fanfictions lately and my brain has come up with a story. It's my first time posting on AO3 and my first Marvel work. I'm opened to criticism and suggestions.  
> Now this fiction wont be very long, maybe no more than five chapters.  
> It's a crossover with Harry Potter because I love Fem!Harry and I'm in love with baby Teddy Lupin.

The Starkjet was flying through the sky, piercing the clouds at a speed no ordinary plane could reach. Clint was seated behind the pilot’s seat, his legs shaking nervously. It had been two years and eight months since he was breached out of the RAFT and was deemed a criminal. Thirty two weeks since he had been put on the Wanted list of many countries around the world. It all had come to a halt a few days ago though. King T’Challa had come to their common area to tell them that the UN and the USA had accepted to get them back. It didn’t mean that things were good though, just that it was a start and that there was still a lot of work to do to make things better. But all Clint could think about was that he would finally see his family again. God, how he had missed them!

Glancing around, he could see his friends showing various degrees of anxiousness. The worst offender being Scott Lang. Clint could actually pity the man, he clearly had no idea what he got himself into when he answered the Captain’s call. He really didn’t deal well with their banishment from their home country. He was on probation back then and even if he had been pardoned for some things, there were still consequences waiting for him back home. Consequences waiting for all of them, whether they wanted them or not.

Soon enough, sooner than he realized, he could feel the plane preparing to land and, despite his years of spy activities, he could feel his heartbeat pick up. When the jet touched the ground, he got up and stretched, trying to push his nervousness as far as possible. Then, for the longest seconds ever, the door slowly opened. They all exchanged a look then faced the opening, bracing themselves for what was to come. What they didn’t expect was for a petite woman to be waiting down the stair, a note book in her hands.

“Welcome to the Avengers Compound. My name is Red and I run the place,” she said in a monotonic voice. “Here are the badges giving you access to the building. If it doesn’t open a room, it means that you don’t have the clearance necessary.”

She then handed to all of them said badges. Once she was done, she took a step back and looked at all of them.

“I will guide you through the layout then give you two hours to rest. Afterwards, we will go to the meeting room. There are some people who have to walk you through what’s coming next. Please follow me.” She turned around, leaving them all perplexed. Scott just shrugged then started walking after her, quickly followed by all of them. The silence was heavy. “Here is the waiting area for anyone coming from outside,” she started, after they had all walked through the first set of doors. “Normally there is someone here to check upon the agents and verify that everything is alright before they can proceed to the main area, but today is not a normal day. Please note that only when you’ve been given the ‘go ahead’, you can walk through the doors. Your badges don’t open them.” She flashed her badge to a small screen next to the second set of doors, and after a few second, they opened. “Now, here you have the main area. The compound has been changed since you last came here. Where we came from was the south wing. On the east wing you have the private area with the dorms and all the common areas such as the kitchen and the living room. On the west wing, you have all the official rooms meaning the meeting room, training grounds, medical bay and the gym. North wing is the R&D department. Please don’t bother them, they are quite fussy about interruptions and only go there if asked. Your badges won’t open the doors for you anyway. Questions?”

An awkward silence answered her. They all were quite bothered by the clinical welcoming they had received and this overload of information was not what they expected.

“I’m sorry, miss, but I’m not sure I understood what your role was here?” finally asked Sam.

“I’m the manager of this whole place, though I’m mostly here as a handler for all the avengers members. I’m here to answer your questions, put through any requests you have to the right people and make sure everything runs smoothly” came the unbothered answer.

“And how did you come to work here? I mean where do you come from?”

“I was hired”, the _duh_ went unsaid. “Any _pertinent_ questions?”

“Yes, hm. Where is everyone else?” asked Scott, looking around. “From my understanding, many more people signed up to be Avengers, right?”

“It has been decided that you should have the compound for yourself to begin with. The others, who are not on mission right now, will come back later. A formal meeting will be called to introduce everyone officially. Now follow me, I’ll show you your quarters.”

They all fell in line behind her, walking towards an elevator.

“Your badges give you access to your floor, and your floor only. Same goes for everyone else. If you want someone who doesn’t live on your floor to be here, you will have to go fetch them yourself. You are the only ones of this floor for the moment so you can pick your rooms. Each floor has the same layout: twelve bedrooms each with their own washroom, a living room and a kitchen” she finished saying when the elevator doors closed, after she pushed the button for the fourth floor and flashed her badge.

The ride to their floor was silent, only breached by the noise made by the elevator. Once they reached their floor, the doors opened and Red stepped out, straight into the living room.

“Kitchen is on this side and the two corridors over there lead to the bedrooms. Six bedrooms per corridor. I will be waiting for you in the entrance hall in two hours. Please don’t be late.” And with those last words, she got back on the elevator and left.

“Can someone explain to me what’s going on here?” finally asked Scott, looking completely out of the loop.

“I’m not sure I know…But I think we will get all the information we need at this meeting. Why don’t we freshen up?” said the Captain, speaking for the first time.

Without another word, they all went to the first corridor and split into the rooms. It was just enough for all of them. Fifteen minutes before the meeting, they were all in the living room again, looking better than before, in a change of clothes.

“Well, let’s go and get it over with” said Steve.

They all nodded then Wanda pressed the call button for the elevator. When they reached the entrance area, Red was not waiting for them. Looking at his watch, Clint saw that they were twelve minutes early.

“Should we go to the meeting room or should we wait for our handler?” asked Scott.

“I think it would be better to wait. We don’t want to start this whole thing on the wrong foot. And…”

Steve was interrupted when the door from the north wing opened and Tony Stark walked out, followed by two women. He wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings, working on something on his tablet but then he raised his head and stopped when he noticed them standing there.

“Uh. I thought they were supposed to come back on Thursday?” he wondered.

“It is Thursday, Tony” answered one of the women, with a French accent. She was tall, blonde and very beautiful. She wore a pastel dress and nude high heels. “Why do you think I dragged you out of that lab? Ari and Teddy are waiting for you at home and you have your regular schedule to take care of for the next few days.”

“I didn’t realize…How mad do you think Ari is?”

“Depends on if we are back home in the next twenty eight minutes.”

“We should be going then. We don’t want to get her mad.”

“I’m not coming with you, Ginny is though,” she said pointing to the other woman. A redhead, dressed in a black suit and killer boots.

“Why?” Tony asked, surprised.

“Because someone from Stark Industries needs to be here. Really Tony, when was the last time you slept?” she huffed, annoyed. “Now shoo, let me handle things here.” She concluded, pushing Tony towards the front exit, at the opposite of where the Starkjet was stationed.

She exchanged a smile with the woman called Ginny, then turned around and walked towards the doors leading to the west wing. Throughout the whole thing, no one had talked to them and it left Clint feeling unsettled. They didn’t have the time to deal with it though, because Red came around to collect them. The doors to the west wing opened straight on the training area. It was immense, everything needed was there. Stairs on their right lead them to the second floors.

“This floor has three meeting rooms and the gym. The stairs over there lead to the medical bay. Follow me.”

She walked towards the second door on their left then opened it. It was a huge meeting room with a big table in the middle. Around twenty chairs were surrounding it, three people were already seated. One was a man they didn’t recognize, another was the blonde woman from before and the last one was James Rhodes.

“Please seat down,” Red said, before taking the chair next to Rhodes.

“Good morning and welcome to the Avengers Compound. My name is Lucas Bidden; I’m the government liaison between the Avengers and the big bosses. You already know Red and James, let me introduce you now to miss Fleur Delacour, our liaison to Stark Industries,” said the unknown man.

“Why? Where is Tony?” Steve asked.

“Mr. Stark has a company to run and countless other responsibilities. It was decided that I will be the one handling most of the things that have to do with the Avengers. One man really can’t handle all this workload alone, why he insisted on doing so before is a mystery.”

“But he is an avenger, shouldn’t he be here too?” insisted the Captain.

“We have a program, we will answer your questions later Mr. Rogers, let’s not get carried away,” interrupted Bidden. “Now I will give you an overview of how things work around here then we will talk about all of your individual cases. Questions will be answered later. Do you agree?” Everyone nodded and Bidden smile at them. “Good. Now, the compound hosts many people. Not all of them have special abilities and not everyone lives here 24/7. You can do whatever you want in the privacy of your rooms as long as it’s not illegal or dangerous. Due to the number of new members, the avengers have been divided into teams. Since we didn’t want to disrupt the other teams balance, it was decided that you all will stay together. Each team has their own assignments but since you all need to be able to work together, monthly team building workshops are put in place. Every avenger available has to participate, in case we might need you to work together or shuffle the teams’ compositions around for some reason. If you find yourself in need of something, Red is there for you. She has an office on the ground floor and her phone number is in the phones that will be given to you all later. Do you have any questions so far?” they all shook their head from left to right. “Alright, I’ll let miss Delacour talk to you about gadgets and weapons.”

“Thank you, Lucas. Now it’s not really important since everyone here is already aware of this fact but, since things worked differently back then, I have been advised to notify you that Tony Stark is no longer in charge of arming you or improving your gadgets. That’s what the in house R&D department is for.”

“What? Why? Is this Tony being petty?” Steve asked, clearly pissed off. Miss Delacour didn’t seem very impressed.

“No, Mr. Rogers. This is Tony Stark prioritizing. He has too many duties on his shoulders to continue fostering the Avengers too.”

“Why isn’t Stark Industries taking over then?” the Captain insisted.

“Stark Industries closed its weapon department years ago. This is common knowledge,” the woman answered, frowning.

“Then how were we still receiving improved weapons and all?” Clint asked in lieu of the Cap.

“The Avengers armory was never a Stark Industries project. It was something that Mr. Stark did on his own, with his personal money, in his personal lab. SI was never attached to any of this. It would have been very imprudent and contradictory to the changes made internally. Everything that Mr. Stark did was free of charge…Just like housing and feeding you,” she added after a bit. Clint was certain he saw at least half the people in the room wince. “Apart from him being too busy, there is also the fact that the compound is not owned and paid for by Mr. Stark anymore. With the accords in place, the compound has been turned into UN property. Mr. Stark can’t get involved in how it runs. It would be a conflict of interest. However, he has agreed to work as a consultant for R&D. You might run into him from time to time” she finished.

“He doesn’t live here then?” wondered Scott. Miss Delacour answered with a ‘ _do you really see Tony Stark bunking in a dorm when he has more houses than you have shoes?_ ’ look. Scott flushed and looked elsewhere.

“Although if you have some request that you want passed along to him, Red is here for that.” Finished the young woman.

“Thank you, Fleur. Colonel Rhodes?”

“Right. As the leader of one of the other teams, I have to walk you through your role Mr. Rogers. Reports after every mission are to be given, in written form, to miss Red. They must contain everything from the moment you left the compound to the moment you came back, not just things directly related to the mission. For example if there was a fight between the members, it must be reported. If there was a show of insubordination, it must be reported. If inconsistencies are found, it might lead to team being grounded until internal investigations are finished. Team building exercises are strongly advised but you’ll have to book the training ground for the time you need. There are also monthly team leaders meeting, to share information or just to get to know each other better. We try to be as transparent as we can here; we never know when having the right Intel might save our lives. That is all I have to say at the moment, any further questions might be answered by miss Red.”

The Colonel never stopped to breath throughout his whole speech; he wasn’t even really looking at them while speaking. It made Clint feel uneasy, and he could say he wasn’t the only one.

“Wait, what about Stark? I suppose he is on this team too, right?” Sam inquired.

“Tony Stark has his own team. He is semi retired anyway; his body hasn’t completely recovered from some injuries he received a few years ago. His doctors all agreed that it would be for the best if he could keep from engaging in physically taxing activities. Iron Man will only come back in case of a major issue.” Said Bidden.

“How come he has his own team if he can’t be on the field?” insisted Sam.

“He co-leads my team. And being on the field isn’t everything, he is a great support” snapped Rhodes. The silence that fell upon them was awkward to say the least. Bidden coughed to break the tension then continued.

“Your team being a special case, you haven’t been cleared for active duty yet.”

“We are completely fit to go out there!” Steve intervened, insulted.

“You might think so but you have some issues to clarify first. Mr. Barton is a civilian; miss Maximoff is not an American citizen thus legally has no right to be in the country and Mr. Lang left while he was still on probation. As for mister Wilson, well his superior in the Air Force would love to have a chat with him.” Corrected the young man.

“Wait, I thought we had been exonerated?” asked Scott.

“And you have been. For your actions in Germany and cleared of your status as fugitives and international criminals. It still doesn’t change the fact that you left the country when you knew you couldn’t. By the way, Hank Pym would also love to have a chat with you, Mr. Lang.”

“And what about me? I am no civilian…”

“You officially retired from the Avengers three years ago. It’s on record. You, however, never put forth a motion to be reinstated. You have to do so, before being cleared.”

“What about Wanda?”

“Miss Maximoff is a complicated case. She’s still a person of interest in Nigeria, and I don’t really know what’ her status with the Wakandan authorities. She can’t be considered a political refugee with her history and will have to formally either ask for a special work permit or work on gaining the American nationality. Which might take years. We were only able to bring her back with you because the compound is considered UN territory. She has immunity here but if she goes out there, well she would be an illegal immigrant and, to be quite honest, there are still people out for her blood.”

“Can’t you do anything for her?”

“No. You can hire a lawyer to help her though.”

“How can she go on missions then, if being outside is illegal?”

“When on missions under the Avengers banner, she’s still under the UN immunity.” Steve exchanged a glance with Wanda, smiling in a reassuring way. “When all those issues are cleared, you’ll have to go through team building exercises. Once the big bosses are satisfied, you will be cleared for field duty.”

“And when will that be?”

“When the shitstorm that’s coming for you passes. If you don’t have any more questions, we’ll adjourn this meeting. Private ones will be made on a later date to discuss your personal issues. Thank you for coming.”

They all knew a dismissal when they saw one. They all got up and waited for Delacour, Rhodes and Bidden to leave. When it was just seven people left in the room, Red addressed them.

“The compound is now all yours, you are free to do whatever you want. If you need me, I’ll be in my office. Good day.” She then left them all standing there.

“So…” started Clint.

“We’ll get through it. Everything will be fine” assured Steve, holding Wanda’s hand.

Clint and Sam looked at each other, clearly not sharing the sentiment.


	2. Blueprint 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We go back in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My, my…little old me is flattered by all the attention chapter one got. We even had a debate in the comments. Please don’t stop, it is actually interesting to me, and even if I have my story fleshed out, it’s good to get some varying views on the subject. Keeps me on my toes.  
> Now, I didn’t think I needed to precise it but apparently it wasn’t clear enough for some of you. I am team Iron. I think Rogers was wrong and I’m just so angry at him! Back when they announced Civil War, I looked the plot up on the web and from that only I was leaning on team Cap. Then I watched the movie. Though it’s called CW, half way through, it stops being about the accords for Steve but all about Barns. Steve is such a hypocrite! Saying people have agendas while he was running around pursuing his own. I’m mostly disappointed in him though, because he was the good guy. Cap is the one we root for and his behavior in the movies just crushed me, he went from being my favorite to being on the same level as Superman. Newsflash: I have a particular dislike for that one. Natasha is another one, she just betrayed Tony and then acted like she was justified. I despise disloyal people. As for the others, I think they were just dumb and blinded by the hero worship that they have for Cap (I was guilty of it too), special mention to Clint who left his family after retiring to actually be with them and Scott who just got involved out of nowhere. As for Wanda, I honestly don’t care about her.  
> Now that being said, I will try not to go to the extreme bashing spectrum; just don’t expect unicorns and hugs. Not happening. Never. And for the ones wondering, Stony was never a thing. I put them in the relationship tag because I believe they were friends (though even that is still up for debate), and it’s about their past friendship relation.  
> Now, onto chapter 2.

Blueprint 2.

 

Cold.

Gods it was so cold. And he couldn’t feel anything anymore; sensations had disappeared from his extremities a while ago. He couldn’t even feel the weight of the suit pressing onto his body.

And the silence, it was the worst. It was maddening and he kept on repeating the sound of the shield falling to the ground and Steve’s footsteps fading away, over and over again. He tried to keep his mind occupied by thinking of blueprints, specs, board meetings and even his next dentist appointment but his traitorous mind kept on going back to the shield and to Rogers. He was actually forcing himself to not close his eyes, not just because it could lead to him falling asleep and never wake up, but mostly because the few times he couldn’t help it, he kept on seeing the shield crash onto the reactor. So between burning eyes and traumatizing memories, the choice was easy to make.

But every time things got too hard to bear, he did something he hadn’t done since that day over twenty years ago when his parents died: he prayed. He prayed that he wouldn’t die alone in the middle of nowhere; he prayed that Steve hadn’t completely abandoned him to fend for himself with a broken suit, he prayed that someone would come for him and he prayed that he’d be able to see his best friend again.

He didn’t know how long he stayed there, lying on the ground, but when he heard someone finally calling his name, he couldn’t suppress the tear that fell from his eye.

* * *

Multiple contusions, a concussion, some broken ribs and severe hypothermia, according to the doctor. Honestly he had expected worse. He was just glad to know that he would be okay, not right now but someday soon. Physically at least. For the moment he was in denial about what happened in Siberia, purposely repressing those memories in the back corner of his mind, and was bent on doing so for as long as it would take for him to break. He just hoped it wouldn’t be before he had managed to make Rhodey walk again.

Guilt swarmed him when he thought of his best friend, stuck in a wheelchair but still putting him first. It was all his fault, he should’ve never recruited him for Germany. He should’ve gone alone and maybe, maybe if Steve had seen him come unaccompanied; he would’ve stopped and listened to him. Maybe things would have never escalated like they did. Maybe everyone was right and he screwed up, breaking up the team at the same time. Maybe he should’ve done what everybody did, go with the flow and follow the captain’s lead… and just as fast as this particular thought came up to him, he squashed it. He was a renowned genius, a scientist, a man of logic. And he knew that the accords would’ve come by eventually whether they wanted it to or not, and the smartest thing to do would’ve been to be on the side of the people ratifying them, to be sure that they’d have a semblance of input into what was going to regent their lives from now on.

With a frustrated sigh, he turned over on his bed. Lying down made him feel restless since Siberia, the thought of never waking up again hadn’t left him since that cursed day. So while he used to forgo sleep when he was working on something, now it was because he simply wouldn’t allow himself to sleep. So he would stay up for as long as he could, until exhaustion took over him and he didn’t even realize he was closing his eyes.

When he finally got tired of rolling around in his bed, he got up and walked towards the window. He had gotten out of the hospital three days ago but had refused to go back to the compound or the mansion. He decided to check into the most expensive hotel of the area, not only because he could afford it, but also because those high end places knew the meaning of discretion. He wanted peace and quiet, no paparazzi and gossip rags hunting him like dogs after a freshly cut bone, and especially no government lackey. He needed time to compose himself, to think clearly and plot about his next steps. He wouldn’t be able to do so in a stressful environment. Normally stress and pressure were like oil to his engine, but he had to be level headed for the next rounds. And he could only count on himself for the battles ahead. First of all there would be dealing with his illegal entry in Russia, running after Rogers and his friend. Then the accords…he was going to sick the most psychopathic and bloodthirsty lawyers he could find on the committee. While he agreed on the necessity of clearly set rules and boundaries for superheroes, he wasn’t going to let said heroes be controlled. Protection for all, civilians and heroes alike, was what he’ll be working for.

* * *

A hundred and thirty seven days. Three thousand two hundred eighty eight hours. That’s how long it took for Tony and his team to amend the accords enough to an acceptable first draft to be presented to the UN. He had the support of king T’Challa, and he really wasn’t going to expand on the sheer irony of it, and surprisingly of Pym Technologies. Turns out old man Pym wasn’t really happy about his new buddy using his suit to destroy an airport with no real reasons other than a hero worship of a man in a star spangled spandex. The PR nightmare that had been unleashed upon PT was enough to make even Tony feel some sympathy for the old man.

Stark Industries wasn’t exempt of PR trouble though. After all, Tony Stark was pretty much the unofficial sponsor of the avengers, especially since SHIELD’s fall. And yes he was going to pretend he didn’t know the agency had just gone deep underground. He didn’t know much about the internal workings but he knew enough to prepare himself for the resurgence that was sure to come. The world needed SHIELD, a HYDRA free one of course.

Back to his PR troubles, people were asking questions and he was the only one left who could answer them. Not just people but governments too. Germany wanted accountancy for the Leipzig airport, Russia for the break-in, Nigeria was still out for blood and wakandans weren’t far behind. Once again, Tony was left to deal with the mess. And the others wondered why he was so eager to support the accords. He was quite tired of being the glorified house cleaner of the avengers. Cleaning up after was too expensive: some collapsed building here and there, repairing roads… But did they ever think about the day after? Nope. It’s like they thought someone would just throw a repairing spell and all the destruction and hurt people would be all good again. Although he couldn’t only blame them now, could he? After all, he was the one who enabled them. He housed them; fed them, paid for every expense they might have…they spent most of their lives under the banner of the government and SHIELD who had people dealing with the aftermath. They never had to sort it out themselves, and Tony spoiled them by taking upon himself to not burden them with it. Lot of good that did to them. Maybe if the avengers had faced everything that came with superheroeing, they wouldn’t have been such assholes about the whole thing. Was he being petty? Maybe. But he had a vibranium shield bashing him for god know how long a few months ago so…he had all the right to be.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, he turned around and walked out of the bedroom, straight into the living room. Dropping on the couch, he turned on the TV, looking for a no brainer show that would help kill his neurons faster. Maybe one of those housewives who were not really housewives show. Petty women were hilarious.

* * *

Five months after Siberia, and Tony was simply done. If he hadn’t already missed a date with Death some weeks before, he would’ve gladly rescheduled it for now. He was tired, not physically but mentally. He had to deal with so much shit that honestly, had it been someone else, they would have voluntarily gotten themselves interned and, let’s be honest here, Tony had passed the unhinged stage a long time ago.

But he was satisfied with what he had accomplished so far. It was still far from over but a great deal had been done. After thinking about it, he washed his hands off the Romanian Incident. Yes the capitals letters are needed for that clusterfuck. He wasn’t going to take over the Captain’s blame, again. He was found to have attenuating circumstances concerning the Russian Trespassing and Pym Tech had agreed to help repair the airport in Germany. Accountancy bitches. Which leads us to The Accords. The original ones had been scrapped and amended. The core was still the same but they had worked hard to make sure it protected everyone and had clear guidelines about what enhanced people could or couldn’t do. Like illegally running an op in a foreign country. It wasn’t over though. They had so many scenarios to think of, so many contingencies to put in place…But another good thing that came out of this whole thing was that Ross had been sacked. The US government really didn’t like being painted in an even worse light than having their heroes run around unchecked, by having an official government representative pushing his own agenda with his very personal Guantanamo. Uncle Sam wasn’t very happy.

Accords and heroes were not the only trouble he had to deal with, unfortunately. Pepper quit. She said she was done with the craziness. She stepped down from being CEO and requested transfer to their European branch in Brussels. He couldn’t say he didn’t see it coming because she never signed up for all the extra drama. He just was never ready to actually see her go through with it. So he had to step back into the position. It wasn’t easy to have all those responsibilities back onto his own shoulders again, the board wasn’t really up for it either since he was still embroiled with the avengers’ fiasco but it’s not like they could actually do anything about it. Thankfully, the transition had been quite smooth thanks in particular to Pepper. She might be moving on but she still made sure everything would be in place. She even found him a PA. A male one this time. Tony ran as much background checks as he could on him before hiring him on a trial basis. He didn’t want another Natalie, thank you very much. He still hadn’t forgiven her for that by the way, he had felt particularly violated by the intrusion and she never really apologized for that. Which is why FRIDAY was under strict orders to keep an eye on him. Better safe than sorry. But for now, he was quite alright.

* * *

It had been a year now and Tony had decided he needed a vacation. Let the world work without him in the equation. After carefully planning his escape, he bid goodbyes to the accords and SI, packed his luggage and bought a plane to New Zealand. Why there? Because it was far enough, an English speaking country and a place SI had no plants in. Also, Kiwis were notorious for not giving a fuck about what was happening out there, as long as it had no impact on them. And that was the type of atmosphere he was going for.

He rented a suite in Auckland and the first few days just stayed in there just enjoying being extra lazy, his brain for once agreeing with him and keeping the over activity to minimum. Being a genius sucked sometimes. After three days spent binge watching Game of Thrones on Netflix and eating all he could from the room service, he decided that he really needed some fresh air. Thankfully, the weather was quite nice in the southern hemisphere.

Tony was walking through the streets, with no real direction in mind when something collided with his legs. Turning around, he realized that it wasn’t a thing but a giggling little human who smiled up at him, missing teeth and all.

“Hm. Hi,” Tony said, awkwardly.

“Hi!” answered the chirpy voice, pearly white teeth flashing him.

“Are you lost? Can I help you?”

“No.” said the giggling being.

“Where are your parents?”

“No.” “No you don’t have parents?”

“No”

“I think this must be your favorite word.”

Disentangling the small arms from his legs, he squatted to be on the same eyelevel as the kid. He was quite adorable with curly chocolate hair and amber eyes.

“What’s your name?” he asked, hoping to have another answer than ‘No’.

“Teddy” carefully pronounced the child.

“Well that’s a start Teddy. Are you alone?” he asked, while thinking that maybe he should call the police or something. He wasn’t a connoisseur on lost kids after all, but before the kid could answer, a soft voice called out his name. Raising his head, Tony was met with pale blue eyes and blond hair.

“I guess he is yours?” he inquired, looking at her and pointing at Teddy.

“Well technically speaking he is not. He didn’t come out of my vagina after all, but yes I’m the one in charge of him today” she said, calmly. “Now Teddy bear, if you could stop running away like that, it would be very nice of you.”

“No.”

And that was the moment Tony lost it. It wasn’t really funny but more absurd and maybe he just needed a good laugh. And whenever he stopped, he would open his eyes to look straight at a toothy grin sent his way and that would send him up for another round. When he finally got himself under control again, he got up and wiped a tear that escaped him during his laughing frenzy.

“My apologies miss, I wasn’t mocking you or anything,” he said.

“None taken, mister Stark. I’m happy you were able to find some joy in Teddy’s behavior. He has reached the terrible two stage of his life and, honestly, we are all just hoping it won’t last. By the way my name is Luna, Luna Lovegood,” she introduced herself, a hand extended to him.

“Tony Stark, but you knew that already.” He answered, shaking the offered hand.

“No need to look so gloom, mister Stark. It doesn’t suit you.”

“Please don’t call me mister Stark, that was my father. Tony is fine.” He corrected her.

“Then you might as well call me Luna. Now Teddy, why don’t we go finish our shopping and leave Tony alone, hm?”

“No” came the pouty answer.

Teddy then looked up at Tony, raised his arms and said “Up.” Tony, completely unsure of what to do, looked at the young woman. She simply waved a hand at him, a smile on her face.

“Aren’t you a bit anxious at the idea of letting the kid around someone you just met?”

“Well Teddy met you first and he’s quite the good judge of character. Might be some type of wolf instinct” she said with a small smile, as if she was thinking of something in particular.

“I’m not really at ease with kids…”

“Just pick him up Tony, he doesn’t bite”

Looking down at the kid, whose lips were starting to tremble, he finally bent to pick him up and settled him on his hips. Teddy instantly put his arms around his neck and started giggling.

“If he was a robot, I would say that he was programmed to giggle and say no…” he said, perplexed. Luna simply hummed then started walking. Tony just followed her, still not completely sure about how he ended up in this situation but, let’s be honest, it wasn’t the most bizarre thing that had happened to him.

They just walked around, with no particular goal, didn’t speak much except for Teddy’s occasional babbling. At some point he had let his head fall onto Tony’s shoulder and put a thumb in his mouth. He seemed quite content to just look around, perched onto the taller male. And it was one of greatest walk Tony ever had. After maybe two hours, he realized that Teddy had fallen asleep. Coughing slightly to alert his guardian, he pointed at the sleepy head on his shoulder then walked on the side to not trouble the other people around him.

“The little robot is off, maybe you should bring him back home?”

“Yes, that would be a good idea. It is normally a lot of trouble to get him to sleep in the afternoon, I’m quite thankful.”

“I didn’t do much though”

“You did more than you think” she assured him while taking Teddy off his arms.

He wasn’t going to say it aloud but he actually felt disappointed at the loss of the small weight.

“We usually walk around here every day, if you ever feel like playing sleep whisperer again.”

“We’ll see” he said.

“I’m sure we will” she said cryptically. “Time to bring the little hellion back to his mother. We will see you again Anthony Stark”.

And with no more words, she turned around and disappeared in the sea of people.

Tony didn’t look for them the day after, or even the day after that. And if three days later he was back on the same street, at roughly the same hour, it was all a coincidence.

Their little meetings kept on going for over two weeks. They would meet outside then go for a walk. They wouldn’t talk much, he would pick Teddy up and listen to him babble until he fell asleep then hand him off to Luna. Rinse and repeat. Tony wasn’t really sure about what was happening, all he knew was that he was fascinated by this small little human being who chose him that first day amongst dozen of people and simply refused to let go. And Tony had realized that he was looking forwards those meetings more and more, anticipating the moment Teddy would see him and run into his arms. How peculiar…

They were on one of their walks when Luna suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, startling him a little.

“Yes?”he wondered.

“His mother would like to meet you” she simply said.

“What?”

“His mother would like to meet you” she repeated slowly, as if she was talking to a child. She didn’t even talk to _Teddy_ this way!

“But why?” he asked flabbergasted.

“She says she wants to meet the miracle worker. And Teddy talks about you a lot whenever we go back home. She’s curious to see you.”

“Oh”

“So what do you say? Ready to meet the parent?” she teased him.

“Don’t say it like that,” he frowned. “Makes me feel like I’m a teenager again and that I have to meet my girlfriend’s dad who happens to be a gun fanatic” he whined.

He was startled by the musical laugh that escaped the young woman. It was the loudest she had ever been in his company, she used to speak in soft spoken words and smile here and there, but it was actually the first time she laughed. He caught himself thinking she should do it more often.

“Nothing as nefarious as that, I promise. Here’s our address,” she handed him a small piece of paper. “What about tomorrow? Lunch will be on us so come around eleven. Now, sorry to cut this short but Teddy and I have an appointment. See you tomorrow Anthony!” and without even giving him the time to answer, she took Teddy off his arms and disappeared in the crowd, as always.

The day after, Tony found himself on the thirteenth floor of an apartment building, in front of a golden door, wondering what the hell he was doing there. Before chickening out, he let his knuckles fall onto the door, knocking. After what seemed like hours but really was barely a few seconds, the door open a petite woman was standing in front of him. She was wearing ripped dark jeans, an oversized t-shirt, her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she had floor all over. But what caught his attention was the vibrant emerald eyes looking up at him. Then she smiled, making his heart skip a beat, and spoke.

“Hello, you must be Teddy’s friend.”

Looking back, Tony would be sure that this was the moment he fell in love.


	3. Blueprint 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies, tis your christmas present. Enjoy !
> 
> EDIT: There are many questions about the tags and the various relationships so I'll clear it all up now. There is only one main pairing, which is Tony/Harry. There will be no threesome or multi pairing.  
> Stony in the romantic sense was never a thing and will never be. The Tony/Steve tag is because their relationship in the friendly sense had many impacts on Tony and will be the source of many of his troubles.  
> I'm sorry for the confusion.

Blueprint 3.

Nine days had passed since they’d been back and nothing much had changed, at least for them. They were still on standby, waiting for real decisions to be made about every member of the team: Sam had to deal with the Air Force, Scott was trying to smooth everything out with Pym Tech, Wanda was still persona non grata outside the compound, and Steve was still getting used to the changes. To be quite honest, he didn’t seem to like it very much, all the changes and the fact that they were no longer the ones in charge.

As for Clint, well he still hadn’t decided if he would process the paperwork to make him a fulltime avenger again. It’s not that he didn’t want to; it was just that he still hadn’t talked to his wife about it. Some people might say he should’ve thought about that before but…well, we could all agree that for a renowned spy he acted like the dumbest dude out there. Gods everything was a mess. Three years of exile would help anyone put things into perspective and what he found wasn’t very shiny. Getting back to being an avenger again, he really wanted to talk it over with Laura, trouble is she didn’t seem to want to talk to him and he really couldn’t blame her. When he retired, he promised that he would put their family first; he just had forgotten to add that they would be first after Captain America. What hurt the most though, was that he was pretty sure his youngest son didn’t know him. Nathaniel didn’t know how his voice sounded, what he smelled like or even have any memories with him. How was he going to mend a non-existent relationship?

Sighing, he got up and put his gym clothes on. Exercising was the only thing that stopped him from going crazy, not doing anything worthwhile around here. Honestly he was bored to death. All grey dressed, he exited his bedroom. While walking towards the living area, he noticed that Steve and Wanda’s doors were closed, meaning they must be inside, while Scott and Sam’s were open. If he wasn’t mistaken, Scott was at Pym Tech, a last ditch effort to not have Hank Pym take the suit back from him. Personally, Clint thought that Scott had been the dumbest one of them all. Don’t get him wrong, he liked the guy, he was fun to have around but, he had gotten involved into something that was way bigger than him and stolen another’s property at the same time. And he was on probation. So many strikes against going all vigilante and yet, just like himself, he had not been able to say no to Captain America. The only difference being that he had accepted purely under his worshipping eye of a legendary man. Truth be told, none of them had done much thinking back then. That part had only come when they had been banned from their homeland and branded criminals. Man had that stung. But there was no one but himself he could blame for that debacle because he, unlike some people that shall remain unnamed, knew when to put his big boy pants on and take responsibility for his mess.

Crossing the living area, he saw Sam seated on the couch, watching a rerun of Scary movie.

“Your movie tastes are shit, man” was the first thing that came out of his mouth while approaching the other man.

“Coming from a guy who thinks that Chuck Norris is the greatest actor alive, I won’t feel insulted at all” was the answer.

Grinning, Clint simply threw a vague hand gesture then called the elevator.

“Chuck Norris is an acquired taste; plebeians like you clearly can’t appreciate his brilliance”

“I’ll stick to my commoner’s pleasure then, and leave the almighty Norris to you. Off to the gym?”

“Not like I have anything better to do.”

And with a muted “see you later”, Clint boarded the elevator then pushed the button for the hall. When he reached his floor, he got out of the metal box and started crossing the entrance. For the first time since they had been back, he could see more people walking around. None of them were paying him any attention, which he was thankful for, but it was nice having other persons around. It felt less like a haunted space with crazy scientists on one side and some ready to snatch guinea pigs on the other. He finally reached the gym without any interruption, and was a bit disappointed to find it empty. He was itching to fight with someone else that the ones on his team. There was only so much team training you could do with the same people before you knew each others’ style so much that you could predict their movements in your sleep. Three days before the actual fight. Although, to be quite honest, Clint didn’t really know how things would go over with the new members. He didn’t know what they thought of him, so the chances of one of them accepting to train with him were quite slim.

Throwing his dark thoughts in a corner of his mind, he jumped on the treadmill and started running. Effort always helped put his mind at ease. Some people listened to music, others read books, Clint ran. He had been running for a while now, when he noticed that he wasn’t alone anymore in the gym. A movement on his left made him turn his head. A kid, not older than eighteen for sure, was stretching on a gym mat, in a corner. When he noticed that Clint was looking at him, he stopped bending into shapes that should be anatomically impossible, and stood there awkwardly. Clint stopped the treadmill and jumped off it.

“Hi” he offered as an opening.

“Hello mister Barton”, the kid said, in a voice that seemed quite familiar.

“Please call me Clint, there is no one that calls me mister, just looking at you already makes me feel old so don’t add on the feeling” he said joking, eliciting a smile from the boy. “What’s your name?”

“Peter Parker” he said. “It’s nice to meet you in a non threatening moment” he added, making Clint frown.

“You do seem familiar. Have we met?” he enquired.

“Yeah…hum I guess without the suit and with my face not in the open, it’s not easy to recognize me. And well the last time we saw each other you had better things to do and introductions really were not in the schedule. I mean, with cars flying and people turning into giants…”

“You’re Tony’s kid!” exclaimed the archer.

“I think Tony would balk at the idea of him fathering a kid eighteen years ago, though you got it somewhat right. I’m also called Spiderman” he said, with a grimace.

“You’re…younger than I thought. Wait, does that mean that you were fifteen back then? In Leipzig?” Clint asked, appalled at the idea that a child had been brought into their fight, no matter how special and talented ha was. “What was Tony thinking?”

“To be quite honest mister Barton, I wasn’t supposed to intervene. And I believe Tony never thought it would escalated into a full out battle. Trust me, the tongue lashing I got after stung for a long time” the kid answered, wincing, although Clint noticed that his toned had turned guarded and that he had taken a slight defensive posture. No talking about Tony got it.

“Yeah, it wasn’t one of our most brilliant moments” he agreed nonetheless. “So, you’re an avenger now I suppose? An official one?”

“I wish, but Tony insists that I should think about it carefully. But I already know what I want, I’ve been on the reserve for over two years now, making me an official member of Team Iron is pretty much a given.”

“Team Iron? Tony’s team?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t really like that name though. But since we also have the Iron Patriot as a team leader, there’s nothing much he can say about it” said the kid with a cheeky smile. “I guess your team will be called Team Falcon, if you go with the tradition of naming teams after their leaders.”

“I think it would be name Team Captain or something in this vein, then” corrected Clint.

“Ah. You’re not aware then…” Peter said, his voice trailing and his eyes looking everywhere but at Clint, making him frown.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…it’s not official and I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t know about it but I’ve heard people talk. Steve Rogers never achieved the Captain rank, it was just a _courtoisie_ title given to him during the war, some type of propaganda. As the highest ranking officer in your team, Sam Wilson would be the logical choice for a team leader. And, well, mister Roger’s reputation is still not the brightest so putting him in charge would ruffle some feathers. Some countries are already quite unhappy having you guys back in official capacity so rubbing him in their faces was a no go. At least that’s the gist of it…” Peter ended, looking quite embarrassed and nervous.

“Well fuck” was the only thing Clint could say, causing a nervous laugh from his companion. “I’m sorry, I just realized I held you off your training.”

“Oh, no problems. It was nice really meeting you. You were one of my favorites, after all. Want to train together? I could be our very own moving and flying target practice and it will be a good dodging training for me.”

Clint tried not to wince at the favorite comment then accepted the offer. He did thought of finding someone to train with earlier after all. Grabbing some non lethal arrows and a bow, he stood in the middle of the room, waiting for the kid to give the signal, which he did a few seconds later when he jumped from a platform, launching a web to the other side, and moving around while avoiding arrows coming at him from everywhere.

It was the most fun Clint had had in years.

A few hours later, Clint was seated in team Cap…Falcon’s living room, a pizza on a plate on his lap and watching a documentary on Europeans long dead kings and queens. Those people clearly had a lot of issues. He was deep into the part about Louis the 14th when Wanda joined him on the couch.

“Hey kid” he said while turning down the volume of the television.

“Clint, you do know that I’m closing on thirty, right?” she snorted.

“Meh, once you’re my age, everyone is a kid” he answered.

“You’re not that old, still young enough to not be considered my father” she said.

“Respect your elders, kid” he joked, throwing a pillow at her, which she dodged then turned back on him in a red mist.

They were playfully joking like that when the elevator doors opened and an irate Steve came out then stormed into his bedroom. It had been more and more frequent the past five days and they were barely surprised when it happened now. Steve had been trying to get some time alone with Tony, first he tried calling him but apparently he changed his phone number. Then he tried going through Stark Industries but Tony was always unavailable. He moved onto requesting a meeting through Red but it was still processing. His latest attempt was to try to get past the R&D department but irate engineers and scientists were filing complaints. Honestly, Clint was getting annoyed at Cap’s behavior. They were already not the most liked people here, going around disrupting everyone and trying to pull a weight he didn’t have was not endearing them to the others. Even the dumbest person would have understood that Tony clearly didn’t want to talk to him but, the cap just seemed to breeze through the obvious.

Wanda and Clint exchanged glances then turned back to watching the TV, the mood gone. Clint turned up the volume, trying to ignore the ruckus coming from their almighty ex-leader’s room. They were barely getting into a segment about Mary Stewart when the phone rang. Getting up, he picked up the phone, not really registering what was happening.

“Mister Barton, it’s Red. You have a visitor in meeting room number three. It’s your wife.”

Clint could hear his heart speed up. He wasn’t expecting Laura to actually come unexpectedly like that. He thought that she might just call him. Not that he wasn’t happy he would see her, and maybe the kids too, he just wasn’t prepared. Taking a huge breath, he focused his attention back on his interlocutor.

“Sure. Hum thank you Red. I’ll be right there.”

He hung up and closed his eyes. This meeting would define everything else for him. Time to face the music. Sending a small, he hoped, reassuring smile to Wanda, he went to his room to get changed then headed out. He crossed the hall and walked up the stairs until he was in front of the door. To think that behind such an unassuming barrier laid everything to him. Gathering his wits, he opened the door. Her perfume was the first thing that hit him before he saw her sitting down at the other side of the table. He hated to say it, but she looked lighter. The sun light was reflecting on her dark brown curls and her gaze snapped up when she heard him entering, staring him down, which was a feat since he was standing up while she was seated on a chair. Coughing awkwardly, he closed the door and walked closer to her.

“Laura…”

“Clint, why don’t you sit down? We have much to talk about” she cut him. Playing it safe, he followed her instructions and sat on the chair right next to her.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

“A bit late for you to ask that, don’t you think?” was the cold answer. He winced.

“I know, I’m so sorry I put you in such a tight spot” he begin, but he was cut off by a bitter laugh.

“A tight spot, he says. You left us Clint. You abandoned us, after you promised to put us first and retired. But it was too good to be true, I should’ve known”

“Don’t say that, please. I love you and the kids, I made a bad call but I promise to do better from now on. Trust me.”

“I wish I could but the reality is that retirement was never going to be good for you. You’re not made to play house, Clint, and even if it hadn’t been for the so called Civil War, there would have come a day when you’d have dived back in. I just didn’t want to accept it but I’ve learned my lesson now.”

“Laura, it’s not fair. You knew who I was for all those years, you accepted all the downsides that would come with marrying me.”

“Yes, I knew what I signed up for then. But you retired, Clint! Before that I accepted that we would never have a normal life, that the kids would always be sheltered and that my social life would become next to extinct. But the upside was having _you_ , it was worth all the sacrifices. It took me the past three years to realize that the balance was tipped in your favor. I was the one making all the sacrifices while you got to have the best of both worlds: your job and your little house in the prairie when you wanted some down time. It took you deserting your family for the blinds to come off. I believed you when you said you were done with it all. And you might have believed it too back then but we were just fooling ourselves. It didn’t take long for you to go back to what you knew best. My life has been good since you’ve been gone, Clint. I stopped worrying for you and focused on my children and getting my life back on track. I was a fool to let it all go, and I won’t make the same mistake again. It’s past time for me to chose myself, my desires and my happiness” she ended, while extracting a file from her bag and handing it to him.

Clint stared at the brown envelope, dread filling his gut. He knew what was coming; he knew there would be no turning back once he opened it. But he didn’t really have a choice, Laura had kept on giving and he kept taking without giving anything back. For a marksman, he had been particularly blind. How ironic. With trembling fingers, he opened the file and took out a stack of paper. Divorce petition. Clint briefly closed his eyes then looked back at her.

“Is there anything I can say or do to make you change your mind?”

“Sometimes it’s better to stop hanging onto dead weight”. Ouch.

“What about the kids?”

“I have full custody and we can figure out visitations for you but Clint, they are angry at you. I was not the only one you left in the dust back then, and I’m even angrier on their behalf. Lila and Cooper, they were hurt pretty bad and I will always be thankful to Tony for helping us.”

That got Clint’s full attention.

“Tony? Stark? What was he doing with you?” he asked, anxious.

“Did you ever stop and think about what might happen to us with the main breadwinner gone? Even worse, what would happen to the family of an ex avenger who went rogue and was out of the country? Who was left to protect us? Tony stepped up when you couldn’t. Cooper needed a male presence, Lila needed a protector and Nathaniel needed a father figure. Tony’s been protecting us for three years now and the kids worship the ground he walks on” she added with a smile.

That stung worse than everything that had ever been thrown at him. Knowing that another man had taken his place in his children life was hurtful, but knowing that he was to blame for that development hurt even more.

“Then I shall thank him the next time I see him, for stepping up when I couldn’t”

“You should, yes” she acknowledged, “although he migh tnot accept it. He seems to have a thing against gratefulness, it makes him feel awkward. Although he’s gotten better at it lately. Teddy and Ari are good for him.”

“Teddy and Ari? I’ve heard those names before, who are they?”

“That’s none of your business. Our business on the other hand is concluded. I will call you to arrange a meeting with the kids. Just be understanding, it might not happen soon. I need to ease them into it, they’re still not aware that you’re back.”

“Of course, I understand. Thank you for coming, even if it’s not how I expected things to go.” She nodded.

“Goodbye Clint” was the last thing she said before exiting, leaving him in the room with just the divorce papers as sole company.

Clint couldn’t say how long he stayed in there but he jerked up when the door opened again and Wanda entered.

“Are you alright? You’ve been here for a few hours now. Steve sent me to fetch you for diner” she said, softly.

“I didn’t realize it was so late” he noted while standing up.

“We didn’t notice either; we were training for the last two hours. We’re heading back up now, Steve thought it might be better to call you too” she explained.

Clint simply nodded, gathered all the files then stood up. He followed her back down and they entered the hall where everyone else was gathered. Before any of them could say anything, a shriek surprised them all.

“PETER !” yelled a child’s voice.

Turning around, they saw a four or five year old boy running into an older male. Clint recognized Peter Parker.

“Hey Teddy” answered the latter with a smile, gathering the child in his arms.

Clint noticed that while the child had come from the entrance with the red head who accompanied Stark a few days before, Peter had come from the R&D door. The name Teddy bought all his attention though.

“Are you here to see your father?” asked Peter, talking with the energetic kid in his arms. Said kid nodded, making his dark brown curls bounce around, a pleased smile on his face. “Well he is a bit busy at the moment, why don’t we go in my room, hum? I have a new puzzle you might like. You don’t mind, right Ginny?” he asked to the woman.

“Of course not, spy kid” she answered with a smile. “You having the brat for the next hour means time off for me, I’d never say no to that, you know me! Now shoo, let me enjoy my short freedom.”

Laughing, Peter walked towards the elevator and pressed the button. Not even ten seconds later, he disappeared with the child behind the iron doors.

“Why is there a child in the compound? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” asked Steve.

“The place is filled with enhanced people, I’d say it’s the safest location in the whole country” countered Scott.

“This Peter, he seems quite familiar…” wondered Sam.

“Remember the trump card Tony brought to Leipzig three years ago?” intervened Clint, “That’s him. Peter Parker, goes by the name Spiderman though”.

“How do you know that?” asked Steve.

“I met him this morning when I was training in the gym. We sparred together. He’s quite slippery, it was a nice change” he explained shrugging.

“You could have told us” reprimanded Steve.

“I don’t answer to you” he replied, quite annoyed. “I don’t have to report everything I do. It would have come up in the conversation anyway. Let’s go, I’m hungry”. He went to walk towards the elevator when he noticed that Wanda wasn’t moving.

“Wanda?” he called her.

“There’s something off about this woman” she replied, her eyes fixated on the redhead who was seated on a couch, leisurely reading a magazine.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked, already getting defensive.

“There’s some type of energy around her, it’s not natural. I don’t know how to explain…” she answered, red mist appearing out of her and heading towards the unknown woman. But even before it could reach her, she sat upright and turned her head, looking straight at them. After a tense moment she got up and walked towards them. She stopped walking when she was close enough and stared straight at Wanda. Without looking at him, she spoke to Steve.

“Mister Rogers, I’d advise you to keep your pet bitch, I mean witch, and her mind raping ways away from me and mine. If she ever tries to use her powers in my presence, she might not like the consequences. And in mine are included the child you saw me with and Tony Stark. Are we clear?”

“Is that a threat?” Steve demanded, pushing Wanda behind him.

“No, it’s a warning. If she is deemed a threat, she wouldn’t have to worry about me because the Commander will have her head, and her parlor tricks wouldn’t save her. If she’s smart, she’ll listen”.

She turned around but stopped again.

“By the way, miss Maximoff, you’re an insult to every redhead out there.”

Then she walked away.


	4. Blueprint 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We go back to the older timeline. I strongly advise to read chapter 2 again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, never thought it would take me so long to update but shit happened, life happened, school happened and my computer died on me. Now I'll try not to let so much time pass before the next one but this month will be super busy for me so don't hold your breath much.  
> I strongly advise you guys to read back on chapter two since this chapter picks up right where that one ended. I think chapter 6 will be the last one going back in time then the story will be in one timeline until the end. At first i thought to do a five chapter story but yeah not happening so now I think of doing ten chapters top. I have some ideas coming up but they will need more time so yay.  
> As for this chapter I'm not really happy with it, I feel like something is missing so I'd love to get some feedback.  
> Cheers !

The day after, Tony found himself on the thirteenth floor of an apartment building, in front of a golden door, wondering what the hell he was doing there. Before chickening out, he let his knuckles fall onto the door, knocking. After what seemed like hours but really was barely a few seconds, the door open and a petite woman was standing in front of him. She was wearing ripped dark jeans, an oversized t-shirt, her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she had floor all over her. But what caught his attention was the vibrant emerald eyes looking up at him. Then she smiled, making his heart skip a beat, and spoke.

“Hello, you must be Teddy’s friend.”

Looking back, Tony would be sure that this was the moment he fell in love.

Embarrassingly, it took him a few seconds to regain his countenance.

“Hello, hi! Yes I’m Teddy’s…friend. And who are you? I was invited by his mother” he rambled, making her smile.

“I _am_ Teddy’s mother,” she said, offering her hand for him to shake.

“What?” was the only thing that Tony could say, completely dumbfounded. He really didn’t see that one coming.

“I’m Ariana Potter, it’s nice to meet you Mister Stark” she said still smiling and retreating back into the apartment to let him enter.

“Tony is fine, Mrs. Potter” he finally said, regaining his wits.

“Then call me Ariana. And it’s _Miss_ Potter, I’m a single mother.”

“Well Miss Ariana, it’s nice to meet you too” he said, putting his most charming smile on display.

“Teddy is in the living room, he’s waiting for you. He hasn’t stopped babbling since this morning, I guess he’s quite excited to see you in his territory”

“I better not make him wait then!” Tony exclaimed. “I almost forgot, this is for you” he said, giving her a bottle of white wine.

“Chardonnay? Nice choice.”

“I take it you like wine then?” he asked, curious.

“My blood is made of wine but don’t say that to Luna, she will launch into a whole speech about healthy drinks and all that rot” she shuddered.

“I promise” he replied with a small smile.

“No need to make him promise anything Potter, I already know about your not so secret personal wine bar in your office, beneath your desk” a voice interrupted them.

“I never said you didn’t know” replied the dark haired girl with a cheeky grin, “I just said not to mention it”.

“Wipe that grin off your face. Nice to see you Anthony, you look lovely today.”

“Hello Luna,” Tony said. He had given up on getting her to call him by his nickname. “Now, could someone lead me to my friend? He’s the reason I’m here after all.”

“Follow me”

Throwing another smile at Ariana, he walked after Luna. They went through a corridor and walked into a huge living room with windows going from the ground to the roof. The walls were cream colored and white orchids decorated the space. Pictures all around the walls were a witness to the family life and the ground was covered by a burgundy fluffy carpet. Two large coffee colored couches took the space, a table between them and a large TV was mounted on the opposite wall. A yellow dressed Teddy was concentrated on viewing Dora the explorer. Ugh. That cartoon was pure torture.

“Teddy-bear look who’s here” interrupted Luna.

The little human turned around and his face brightened up when he saw Tony standing there. In a blur of sun colored outfits, he ran to the older male, giggling and hugging his legs.

Tony bent down to pick him up, smiling at him. “Hello, little man”.

“Hello” answered the child, a beaming smile on his face.

“How are you doing today?”

“I’m okay. Watch Dora?”

Tony worked really hard to hide his wince. “Why won’t we try something new, hm? Diversity is good for one’s soul, trust me” he trailed while walking over to the couch and picking up the remote. He then went into a discussion on the right topics for a child to watch and develop his intelligence. He was so focused on the conversation that he practically forgot where he was until someone sat down next to him. Surprised, he turned his head to his left and met the amused face of a redhead who he had never met before.

“I’m Ginny, don’t worry there is no one else in the house that you haven’t met. The estrogen level won’t rise anymore” she said with a smile.

Tony smiled back “I’m Tony but I guess you already know”.

Raising her legs and crossing them under herself, she put her head on her hand and looked him in the eyes. “So, how does it feel to know that you are friends with a toddler?”

“It’s gratifying to have access to so much unaltered views of life” he retorted, raising an eyebrow.

She snorted, “Please, just admit that you finally found someone with the same maturity as yours and it feels nice to be able to share so much understanding between  you two”

“It’s nice of you to recognize the genius that is Teddy, so young and already so smart!” he beamed. They exchanged a look and burst out laughing. Teddy who had been surprised by the noise looked at them, clearly not understanding what had set them off.

“I like you, Stark.”

“Why, thank you miss!”

Ginny simply shook her head, “So what are you guys watching?” she asked, turning on herself to face the TV.

“Anything that’s not Dora the explorer,” he replied making faces.

“What do you have against her?”

“She’s creepy”, he simply said, making Ginny snort.

“Don’t tell me Iron Man is afraid of a fictional child?” she mocked him.

“Have you seen her head? It’s bigger than her body and the way she _stares_ when she’s expecting answers” he shuddered.

Before Ginny could say anything back, they were interrupted by Luna. “Would you like something to drink Anthony? We have alcohol or some juice if you’d like?”

“Water is fine, thank you.”

Luna nodded then disappeared in a corridor, presumably into the kitchen to bring him water.

Settling on watching discovery channel, Tony leant back in the couch. “So, Ginny, what do you do in life?”

“Bodyguard”

“Really?” Tony asked, surprised. “No offense, but you don’t have the look for the job.”

“None taken, and I know but don’t be fooled by my model like figure. I kick ass”

“Somehow, I believe you” he mumbled. Silence fell upon them, only broken by the voice of the TV host who was talking about the habits of swans. Fascinating. At least little Teddy seemed interested by it, so it was a win in Tony’s book. Better than the big headed, staring happy Dora.

They were later interrupted by Ariana who came with a plate of salted biscuits, followed by Luna who was holding a tray of drinks. They put everything down on the table and Ariana started handing a glass to everyone. Little Teddy, happily drinking what looked like juice in a sponge Bob plastic glass and eating some cut veggies. When everybody was served, Luna and Ariana sat down on the other couch. Tony actually felt a bit out of place with these females he barely knew, who were watching him. Clearing out his throat, he drank some of his water, looking everywhere but at his hosts.

“Don’t look so uncomfortable, Anthony. We don’t bite, I promise” the soft voice of Luna, interrupted.

“First Dora, then three young women? Really you’re breaking your own legend, Mister Stark” the mocking voice of Ginny continued.

“Stop teasing the poor man, you harpies” chided Ariana. “So, what are you doing so far away from home, Tony?”

Relaxing, Tony turned towards her. “Vacation. Things have been pretty hectic the past months and to be honest, I needed a break.”

Ginny snorted. “Hectic? Talk about the understatement of the century.”

Tony fidgeted, uneasy about that subject. “And you? Your accent doesn’t sound local, british?”

“Yes to the second question. As for the first one, I can tell you but I might have to kill you” was the answer given by Ginny, an innocent smile on her face.

“You will find that I am quite hard to kill” he threw back.

“I watch CSI. I know how to make a body disappear.”

“Ooooookay. We’re going to stop that conversation right there. Not only it’s a disturbing subject but also, there is a kid here” announced Ariana.

“Please, Teddy is the sneakiest of us all, don’t let the angel face fool you” insisted the redhead.

“Now you’re heading into dangerous territory, Ginevra,” intervened Luna, making Ginny wince.

Tony let out a startled laugh “Ginevra?”

“Now look what you’ve done, Luna. He has ammunition against me.”

“Ginevra is a pretty name. A bit old fashioned but it’s not one of the worst” he assured her.

Ginny and Luna started snickering, confusing Tony. “What?” he asked.

“Nymphadora, Remus, Regulus, Sirius, Bellatrix…” started Ginny.

“…Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, Charlus, Phineas, Amycus, Bartemius » continued Luna.

“Now you’re just making fun of me” commented Tony, his lips parted.

“And almost all of them are related to Ari” added Ginny with a cheeky smile.

“Stop making fun of my family!” she objected.

“Oh because you’re _claiming_ the Malfoys, now?” Ginny asked.

“Well, Dorea, my grandmother, was Arcturus’ cousin which made her Sirius, Bellatrix and Narcissa’s grand aunt” Ariana calmly explained while getting up. “And I’ll remind you, Miss Weasley, that your great grand uncle, Septimus, married Cedrella Black so you’re making fun of your family as well”.

“Ari, sweetie, you’ve met my family. Making fun of each other is a national sport” Ginny countered in a very blasé way, causing Ariana to roll her eyes.

“Wait” Tony intervened, “you’re related?”

“Through marriage over some decades ago. And I’m pretty sure that if we dig deep enough, we might find some link to Luna” Ariana explained with a shrug.

“How come?”

“Old families tend to stick together. I think it’s the same in America? Anyway, time to eat. Ginny come and help me before you start talking about weird things again.”

After some maneuver, they were all seated around the family table, with a lot of food and the discussion was naturally flowing between the four adults and one child. For the first time in a long time, even preceding the disaster of the last months, Tony actually felt relaxed. It was nice being surrounded by people who were just having fun with each other and without any pretention. The presence of Teddy actually helped him being that relaxed. The little boy was so filled with life and joy and it felt good to be witness to that.

After they finished their lunch, Teddy was put to bed for his nap while the adults settled back on the couch for a last drink. Tony was very thankful that the conversation stayed light and that they didn’t ask any questions about his alter job.

Around three in the afternoon, Tony decided to leave. He had appreciated the time there but he was getting a bit overwhelmed by having so many people around. He wasn’t used to that anymore. Saying goodbye to Luna and Ginny, he followed Ariana back to the entrance.

“Thank you for having me. I had fun” he said.

“It was my pleasure” she smiled at him.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful but, I’m just not exactly sure why you invited a complete stranger in your house…”

Ariana looked straight at him. “Teddy likes you. And he is precious to me, more than anyone else. Luna vouched for you but I still needed to meet you by myself and form my own opinion. I know of you, Anthony Stark, but I didn’t know you” she explained simply.

Tony kept his eyes on her, looking for something that would tell him she was lying or hiding her real motives but he couldn’t find anything. “Okay”.

“Okay” she agreed.

Tony finally exited the apartment after biding her goodbye. He had trash reality TV show waiting for him at his hotel.

The next three days, Tony didn’t leave his hotel. SI was catching up on him and he knew he didn’t have much time left on his little adventure. And while he had enjoyed the break, he had to admit that he missed his life, his lab and creating things. Oh, the other side like going back to the accords didn’t excite him much but it wasn’t like he could chose anyway. Sometimes he regretted ever signing up for the Avengers.

When he finally decided to go out again, his feet naturally brought him to his meeting point with Teddy and Luna. He wasn’t really sure if he would meet them again, since he hadn’t been out for the last three days.

He was walking around with no particular destination when a giggling sound reached his ears. Pivoting around, he just had time to brace for impact when a little body collided with him. Teddy beamed up at him then extended his arms in the universal signal for “pick me up”. Tony executed the silent order and smiled at the child.

“Hello Teddy, how are you doing today?”

“Teddy okay. Tony okay?”

“I’m fine buddy. Where is Luna?”

“She had something to do, so I’m the one taking the little wolf out today” an unexpected voice answered.

Looking past the mop of brown hair, his eyes fell upon Teddy’s mother.

“Ariana ! What a surprise! I hope you are doing well?”

“I’m doing fine, thank you. I heard you were alright yourself. Teddy was a bit fussy the last days since he didn’t see you.”

“Oh. Work. Busy. Sorry Teddy” he said, looking back at the child who simply smiled at him.

“So, what do you normally do with Luna on those walks?”

“Nothing much, it’s normally me and Teddy talking and Luna doing…you know, I actually don’t know exactly what she does” he said, frowning.

“Well I am not Luna so you and Teddy will have to include me in your discussions.”

“I don’t think that it will be problem” he replied.

After that day, he barely saw Luna anymore. Ariana was the one accompanying Teddy during the outings and, while it took him some time to adjust to the new dynamics, he actually liked it better, if he was to be honest with himself. He liked Ariana, she was calm and collected but also mischievous and funny. And she was also very pretty, Tony wasn’t shy to admit it to himself. They talked a lot with each other, no hard subjects of course, but they learned quite a lot about each other’s tastes. It felt nice being a bit carefree like that, but for real this time and not just to piss off Howard or make the front page of gossip magazines.

His fascination with Teddy had a bit transferred to his mother but he didn’t want to weight too much on that. Slippery slope and all.

A week later, Tony found himself back in front Ariana’s apartment, except this time the circumstances were not the same. The door opened to show a barely awake Ariana, her hair in a messy bun and a confused expression on her face.

“Tony? What are you doing here? It’s 3AM…” she trailed. “Are you alright?” she asked, widening the door.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I came here, especially so late and…God I didn’t even think about waking everyone up. I…”

“Come on” she cut him. Silently he entered the place, suddenly feeling awkward and intrusive. “Follow me, but be quiet” she whispered. Tony did as told, even if he was surprised that she wasn’t leading him to the living room. They turned in a hidden corner, giving place to another corridor with five doors. Ariana led him to the one on the farthest right and opened it to let him enter.

“Sit on the couch and wait for me, I’ll be right back” she instructed before going back out. Doing as told, Tony used that time alone to try and recollect himself. What was he doing here? The door opened again and Ariana entered with two bottles of water in her hands. “You look like you need some hydration” she explained, holding out one of the bottle to him.

“Thank you”

Ariana simply nodded and sat down next to him. They kept the silence for awhile, sipping on their water.

“I have to go back home in thirty six hours. Vacation is over” he said quietly.

“You don’t want to go?” she asked, just as quietly.

“I knew that my time was counted here, I’m the CEO of my company after all, and that’s without talking about the extra activities”

“How are you?”

“Tired.”

“Why did you come tonight?”

“Nightmare. Going back also means facing what I ran away from and I realized tonight that I wasn’t ready. But I have to go back. I can’t run away forever. Fuck I’m over thirty, I shouldn’t be behaving like that.”

Ariana kept the silence before quietly saying “You’re not the only one running away, Tony”.

He looked at her, a questioning expression on his face.

“My parents were murdered when I was a baby. I was left to my mother’s sister, a jealous harpy who made my life miserable. When I was seventeen, my parent’s murderer came for me. He attacked my school and terrible things happened that year. He died though but, after that we were all broken and I ended up with Teddy’s custody and many other things went wrong so I packed my bags and left England. I haven’t been back since then. You once asked what we were doing here, well like you, we are running away, and have been for the past three years so you dreading going back after barely a few weeks is perfectly normal”.

Tony didn’t speak for awhile and then “Wait. You’re twenty years old. Wow. I knew you were young but I didn’t think you were that young. Fuck.”

“Is it that shocking ?” she asked.

“Yes?” he replied, uncertain. “I just wasn’t expecting that. I thought you were in your mid-twenties. It’s strange to think that I’ve been hanging around with a baby and a girl barely out of her teenage years.”

“I’m older inside, stress ages you”

“Tell me about it” he mumbled. “So, Teddy is not yours?”

“Sorry?”

“You said you ended up with his custody, or maybe he was living with his father?”

“Oh, no. Teddy is not mine. He’s my godson actually. His parents died a few months after his birth and I was legally the next person to gain custody. I don’t regret having him though, I just wished the circumstances were different.”

“I feel like your life was just as fucked up as mine” he commented.

“Yeah, something like that.”

Tony snorted “To fucked up lives” he said, raising his water bottle.

They stayed in silence for some time.

“I don’t know about you”, started Ariana, “but I’m really tired and just want to sleep.”

“Oh my. I’m really sorry. I’ll call a taxi” he said getting up.

“Don’t be silly, the couch turns into a bed. There are blankets and pillows in the cupboard over there”.

“I don’t mean to intrude…”

“I’m offering, do you want to annoy me after waking me up at three 3AM by refusing my hospitality?”

“Now you’re just being mean” he pouted.

“Whatever works” she said, shrugging. “Goodnight Anthony”

“Goodnight” he replied.

Ariana went to her bed and slipped under the bed sheet while Tony prepared his bed and fell down on it, crossing his arms behind his head and trying to fall asleep.

“You’re thinking too loud, Tony. Sleep.”

And as if a spell was cast on him, that’s exactly what he did.

Tony had been back in New York for five months now and had driven back into the thick of the matters. The accords were almost done; his lawyers couldn’t find any more loopholes to add so they gave their blessings for the UN to process it. They would be implemented in a few weeks, if nothing went wrong this time.

Rhodey was out of the hospital and in physical rehab. Tony had been working non-stop on viable prototypes for his legs whenever he had free time and it was going well. James was being strangely pragmatic about the whole thing, talking about the risks of the job. Bullshit.

From his office in the manor, where he had decided to move back, he was currently on the phone with a pretty british brunette.

“Teddy was being particularly vocal about your absence today” said the distorted voice. “It’s been months and yet…”

“I miss him too, my life has been quite giggle-free lately.”

“Yes he tends to do that”

“Are you okay? You seem quite tired.”

“I’m not really tired but I guess New Zealand has lost its charms. I’m feeling restless” she admitted.

After a bit of silence, Tony said “Why don’t you move here?”

“What?”

“Come to New York, I think you will enjoy it and Teddy will stop bugging you about me.”

“Just say that you want to see him”

“I admit nothing”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes, okay. We’ll be coming to New York.”


End file.
